Guidance and resources

This guidance gathers learning from our GP Support team's extensive experience and points to relevant regulatory requirements.

Learn how to safely manage workload for the benefit of patients, yourself and your practice team, while working within the requirements of your contract.

Your quick reference guide to useful resources to help manage your workload and avoid unsafe situations for both practitioners and patients.

The NHS Standard Contract instructs hospitals to rebook patients who miss appointments rather than automatically discharge them to their GP.

This template response can be sent to an employer who is asking the patient to get a note to explain there is no legal basis for their request.

This letter covers absences of fewer than 7 days, long-term illness, recurrent short-term illness and missed exams/impaired performance.

The BMA has provided new guidance to GPs regarding requests from the Police to access patient medical records. The letter initially describes the circumstances in which the Police can request voluntary disclosure of a patient’s records, under Section 29 of the Data Protection Act. However, GPs should not disclose such information unless the patient has […]

The Patient Engagement Project hosted a roundtable event in winter 2016 to which third sector patient organisations were invited to hear about and debate the key themes identified by the project. Roundtable participants agreed on common characteristics of effective Patient Participation Groups (PPGs), which included an open and honest culture of partnership working between practices […]

Since April 2015 it has been a contractual requirement for all practices to develop and maintain a Patient Participation Group (PPG) for the practice to obtain feedback from the practice population on services delivered by the contractor. Practices should make reasonable efforts for the PPG to be representative of the practice patient population and should […]

The Patient Engagement Project resource and signposting list includes links to free, practical “how to” information and toolkits on developing and sustaining PPGs, including virtual PPGs.

Londonwide LMCs’ Patient Engagement Project was built on the principle that patient engagement is integral to high quality, sustainable general practice. The project has developed tools and resources for London GP practice teams to use for work collaboratively with their patients principally starting with their PPG. Many of us have abandoned our contact with PPGs […]

More practices are choosing to merge as a way of meeting the workforce and financial challenges GPs face. We have produced new guide to practices through this process.